Putin Approval Rating Falls to Lowest Since 2000: Poll

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin’s
approval rating fell this month to the lowest level since 2000,
according to a poll by the independent Levada Center.

Sixty-two percent of Russians approve of Putin’s
performance, the lowest since June 2000, according to the Jan.
18-21 poll of 1,596 people by the Moscow-based Levada Center.
That’s down from 72 percent two years ago, showed the poll,
which had a 3.4 percent margin of error.

Putin, who returned to the Kremlin in May after four years
as prime minister, has faced the biggest protests against his
rule since the 60-year-old former KGB agent replaced Boris
Yeltsin as president in 2000. Thirty-seven percent of Russians
disapprove of his rule, the most ever, according to the poll
released today.